


brighter than a blue sky

by oldpapertowns



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Songfic, Third Person POV, Unrequited Crush, as a treat, i changed my mind they can have a bit of requited love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldpapertowns/pseuds/oldpapertowns
Summary: Frank has decided to finally do something about his crush this time. Namely, to tell them his feelings about them.Which is how Frank has gotten himself into this moment, laying on the ground near a certain Gerard Way: comic book geek, artist, and the person who lives rent-free 24/7 in Frank’s head.songfic! based off the song heather by conan gray
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Gerard Way/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 42





	1. wish i were

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to ryan (missingxteeth) bc his tiktok had this song in it, which led to me listening to the entirety of conan's discography, which then led to me writing this thing with my notes app on a road trip because i had no service. oh, the things that i do to pass the time.
> 
> title from 'heather' by conan gray

Frank Iero is sick of pining.

Like, okay, it can be sort of nice when you’re daydreaming about a future where you’re not pathetically alone, but when you come back into the real world, you break your own heart because the person you were pining over doesn’t give a shit about you. Or they only think of you as a friend, which can be worse. ( _#friendzoneftw, huh?_ Frank asks himself drily, then sighs at how utterly pitiful his situation is.)

Being sick of this pining bullshit, Frank has decided to finally _do_ something about his crush this time. Namely, to tell them his feelings about them.

Which is how Frank has gotten himself into this moment, laying on the ground near a certain Gerard Way: comic book geek, artist, and the person who lives rent-free 24/7 in Frank’s head.

“Hey, Gee?” Frank asks, staring up resolutely at the sky, hands behind his head. He hears Gerard shift when he turns his head to look down at Frank from where he’d been sitting, when he replies,

“Yeah?”

Frank takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “So, I wanted to tell you-“

He breaks off, though, when he sees Gerard’s attention flick away out of the corner of his eye.

Pushing himself up to his elbows and looking in the direction of Gerard’s gaze, Frank tries not to feel crushed when he realizes that it’s Heather that’s garnered Gerard’s attention. Really, he shouldn’t even be surprised. It’s always Heather that’s grabbing Gerard’s attention whenever she walks by. Hell, even whenever she’s within view.

Gerard tracks her with his eyes for a second, beaming at her when she waves shyly at him. She flushes a bit and hides her smile behind her hair, and Gerard grins, then turns his attention back to Frank.

“Sorry, what were you saying, Frankie?”

Frank shakes his head and flops down to the ground hard, air whooshing out of his lungs. Fuck. “It’s nothing.”

He can feel Gerard frowning at him a bit, but Frank focuses on radiating extreme I Don’t Wanna Fucking Talk About It energy. It seems to work. Gerard turns back to his comic, and Frank tries to ignore the heaviness of disappointment in his chest.

 _At least I got out of telling him about my feelings_ , Frank thinks to himself. _Right?_

He doesn’t have an answer, though, and he swallows hard and turns onto his side, ripping grass out of the ground as he tries and fails not to think about that fucking day. The third of December.

“It’s cold as shit out here,” Frank observed as he closed the back door behind him, breath misting the air in front of him, as he tried not to slip on ice while stomping his feet in a futile attempt to keep warm.

No response.

Frank frowned and started to look up, because it wasn’t like Gerard to just leave him hanging like that, and was immediately met with a snowball to the face.

Frank shrieked, and the shock of the snow - against his fucking face, of all places - was enough for him to jump a little and slip on the ice, and he fell over with a solid thump, feet still kicking from where he’d tried to save himself from falling.

The first thing he registered was Gerard’s laughter, the little shit. The second thing was the fucking cold, _jesus_. He’d managed to fall into a fucking pile of snow, and there was snow all over him.

Scrambling to sit up, Frank pointed an accusing finger at Gerard (who was still totally laughing and trying to cover it up, the bastard), trying to figure out what to say. He eventually settled on, “Mother _fucker_.”

That just made Gerard laugh harder, and Frank just sat there, scowling and trying to ignore the wetness spreading through the seat of his pants. Christ, his ass was cold.

Eventually, Gerard gasped out, “Sorry, you just-“ he sounded like he was about to burst out laughing again, so Frank morphed his expression into a pout.

“It’s fucking _cold_ , Gee. My mom’s gonna bust my ass if I get sick again.” He shivered, only exaggerating his shivers a little tiny bit, and Gerard sobered up quick, sticking out a hand for Frank to grab.

Once Frank was up on his feet, Gerard gave him a pitiful look. “You can forgive me, right? Also, you won’t try to get revenge on me?”

Frank just nodded and grinned a bit at Gerard.

If it had been anybody else, Frank would’ve jumped their ass and stuffed snow down their fucking pants as soon as they’d turned around, but this was Gerard, so he didn’t. Although Frank wouldn’t have really minded jumping Gerard. Or sticking his hand down his pants. Maybe not in this cold ass snow, though.

As if to remind him of just how fucking cold it was outside, Frank shivered again, this time a bit more violently.

Gerard looked at Frank with an expression of concern that quickly changed to one of horror. “Frankie, your fucking teeth are chattering. C’mon, we’re going back inside.”

Frank barely had time to reply, “Really?” before Gerard all but dragged him back inside the house and down to his room.

“Strip,” Gerard demanded, once the door was closed.

Frank blinked at Gerard, because Gerard telling him to strip in his bedroom veered extremely close to Frank’s Alone Time Fantasies territory.

Gerard flushed crimson, as if he just now realized what his words sounded like. “Not like that! It’s just- You-“ He flailed his hands a bit. “You’re gonna get sick if you stay in those clothes and I don’t want that because that would mean that I-“

Frank snorted out a laugh. “I got it, Gee. Just, uh, do you have any clothes I can fit into?”

A few minutes later, Frank was in a pair of sweatpants that were honestly way too big for him, along with a T-shirt that was also way too big for him.

He looked down at himself, then kicked out a leg and watched as the sweats flapped around. “I look ridiculous. Also, I’m still cold.”

Gerard frowned thoughtfully at him, then lit up and dug around behind himself, muttering to himself.

“Aha!” He came up and brandished... a bunch of black cloth.

Frank frowned at it dubiously.

“Catch!”

Frank caught the mass of cloth, nearly pulling a muscle in the process (had Gerard _ever_ learned to throw?). He shook it out, and- oh.

_Oh._

It was a hoodie, but if Frank had recognized it correctly, it was the hoodie that Gerard wore every single fucking day.

“Put it on, Frankie?”

Frank did, and he was sure that his hair was sticking up all over the place, but he was too ecstatic to care. He looked at Gerard, who was looking at him thoughtfully.

“It looks better on you than it does on me.” Gerard grinned.

Frank blushed, secretly pleased. “I doubt it.”

Gerard just shook his head, still grinning. He stood up and moved closer to Frank, the grin morphing into a softer smile. He took Frank’s hand and pulled him closer, leaving Frank staring up at Gerard, eyes wide.

Gerard leaned in then and pressed their lips together. Frank didn’t respond for a moment, too shocked to move, and it was only until Gerard started to move back that Frank snapped to action, wrapping his arms around Gerard’s waist and going up on his toes to kiss Gerard.

How long the two of them stood there, Frank didn’t know, but he knew it had to be pretty long, judging from the cramps in his calves.

They didn’t speak after, but Gerard laced their fingers together and kissed Frank’s hand, which made Frank smile down stupidly at the ground.

When Frank inevitably had to leave, Gerard pulled him into a hug and kissed him short and chaste, and Frank couldn’t keep the grin off his face all the way home.

Frank’s jolted out of the memory by Gerard calling his name. He rolls over on his stomach and raises an eyebrow at Gerard, then notices Heather sitting next to Gerard, legs tucked under her. And she’s wearing- oh.

That’s Gerard’s hoodie - the one that he’d given Frank three months ago. _The one that he kissed you in_ , whispers a voice in Frank’s head.

Frank swallows his misery as he smiles and nods a hello at Heather, tamping down the jealousy, the urge to scream, ‘HE’S MINE!’ at her. _Jesus, Frank, it’s just plain fucking polyester. Calm the fuck down._

“Frank, is it okay if Heather comes to the fireworks display with us today?” Gerard asks. “I know it was just gonna be the two of us, but...”

 _But what?_ Frank wants to demand. _But it’s too awkward between the two of us because of you initiating the kiss between us? But you don’t want to be alone with me? But WHAT?_

He bites back the words, though, and nods with a smile that’s hopefully not as tight as it feels.

Gerard grins that smile that shows his teeth, the one that had been so unexpected from a guy who wears nothing but black, a guy who is unexpectedly sweet. The one that had made Frank fall for him head over heels.

But the smile, always aimed at Frank or Mikey in the past, is because of Heather. _He likes her better_ , whispers that fucking voice in his head.

Sometimes, Frank sorta wishes that he could hate Heather, but he can’t; she’s a literal fucking angel, and Frank is loathe to admit that Gerard actually has good taste when it comes to girls.

Frank sighs, turns on his side away from Gerard and Heather, and tunes out of their fucking couple talk or whatever.

This night is going to be a fucking shitfest.

Frank is right, and the night is a shitfest.

At one point, Heather shivers a bit and draws closer to Gerard, pressing herself into his side, their fingers intertwined. Gerard notices ( _of course he does_ , Frank thinks somewhat bitterly), and he puts an arm around her shoulders as he presses a kiss to her temple.

Frank bites the inside of his mouth hard enough to taste blood and turns away as Heather smiles at Gerard, heart constricting. The fireworks going up in the sky seem a bit blurry, but Frank ignores them.

 _Did you think you and Gerard could’ve been like that?_ He asks himself angrily, grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes and praying that Gerard doesn’t notice. It’s a bit of a pointless prayer; of course Gerard doesn’t notice, all wrapped up in Heather.

Frank shivers and wraps his arms around himself, feeling goosebumps on his bare arms as he gets colder. _It’s not a surprise that he’s mesmerized by her when he never was with you_ , Frank thinks resentfully. _You’re not even half as pretty, don’t make his eyes light up like she does._

Frank tucks his chin onto his drawn up knees. _I wish I were Heather_.


	2. i am; we are.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ye ask, ye shall receive. this may have taken me slightly too long to write

Gerard breaks up with Heather after a week.

“Why?” Frank asks when Gerard is over at his house, keeping his attention on his homework.

Gerard just shrugs. “I didn’t really feel like she was the right person, you know? Like, she’s nice and all, but we didn’t really... fit.” Frank can see Gerard smile at him out of the corner of his eye. “Like us.”

“Oh,” is all Frank has to say in response. What the _fuck_ does Gerard mean by ‘like us’? Frank pushes the thought aside and attacks his math homework with vigor.

He gets halfway through a problem before he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up to find Gerard looking at him with concern.

“Is everything okay, Frankie? You seem a little tense.”

Frank stares back down at his homework. _Why_ had he fallen for someone who was so fucking caring and lovable? “I’m fine,” he replies, just barely managing not to mutter.

Gerard is radiating some serious Concerned Friend vibes, but Frank ignores him and finishes the problem.

He’s finished two more problems by the time Gerard speaks again. “Are you sure? Do you want me to distract you from something?”

“No, I-“ Frank frowns. “Actually, yeah. That would be nice.”

Gerard starts speaking almost immediately. “See, the thing with Heather-“

Frank stifles a scream.

“-was sorta weird. Like, I think it would’ve worked out if I’d been as invested in the relationship as she was, but I wasn’t. I tried to give it my all, but I don’t really think my heart was in it. And I think that-“

“Wait,” Frank interrupts. “Were you leading her on?”

Gerard looks thoughtful. “Not really? I mean, I don’t think so.” He snags one of Frank’s pens and starts twirling it absentmindedly. “It was more like I was hoping she was somebody else. Or, like, I was into somebody else.”

Frank blinks. “You didn’t cheat, did you?”

“No!” Gerard looks horrified. “Do you think I’m someone who cheats?”

Frank pretends to think, tapping a finger against his cheek. “Hmm... kind of. You sorta seem like the kind of person who would, you know?”

Gerard stares at Frank. His jaw isn’t on the floor, but it isn’t much of a reach.

Frank manages to keep a straight face for five more seconds before he bursts out laughing. Gerard groans and faceplants onto the bed. “Frank!” he whines.

“Your face!” Frank wheezes, his giggles petering out. “You- you looked so offended.” He looks at Gerard, who‘s unpeeled his face from Frank’s sheets, and starts giggling again. Gerard shakes his head, and Frank yelps as he’s pulled down horizontally onto the bed as well, nearly braining both himself and Gerard. Suddenly the two of them are face to face, noses nearly touching.

“Hi,” Frank says, breathless and grinning from before.

“Hi,” Gerard whispers. Frank sees Gerard’s gaze flicking down to his lips and idly tangles their legs together like they’ve done so many times before.

Frank meets Gerard’s gaze, mouth slightly open, and Gerard tilts his head forward and closes his eyes, only to jerk back a moment later with a shriek.

Frank sits up and watches with his head on his hand as Gerard curls up into himself, thoughts a mixture of regret and the single word ‘yikes.’

After what seems like an eternity, Gerard finally looks up and gasps out, “What the fuck?”

Frank huffs out a breath. “What was that whole giving-me-your-hoodie bullshit? Because honestly, what the fuck? Way to confuse a guy. I thought that-“

“You know I only dated Heather to try and get over my crush on you?”

Frank nods purely because of reflex. “Yeah, but-“ Gerard’s words sink in. “Wait, _what_?” He stares at Gerard.

Gerard’s cheeks are stained a light pink, but he nods. “Did you not notice the similarities between you two? The eyes, the way you both move, the smiles, even the shit you both like.”

Frank blinks. “There are similarities between us?”

Gerard looks at Frank, sitting up as well. “The only difference between you two is basically gender. I think you two can become good friends.”

“Oh.” Frank tries to wrap his mind around that. Perfect Heather, who he’d thought was the least similar person to him there ever was, is apparently him but as a chick. Then a thought hits him and he narrows his eyes at Gerard. “Why did you date her when you could’ve dated _me_?” He tries not to sound too whiny, but _seriously_. What goes _on_ in Gerard’s mind?

Gerard makes his thinking face, the one that always makes Frank want to knock him over and kiss him. “I don’t really know, to be honest. I think there’s a part of me that wants to be what’s expected of me by society, which is bullshit because-“

Oh, fuck it.

Frank swings onto Gerard’s lap and pushes him down onto the bed, following him down. He groans when he realizes that Gerard is still talking.

“Gee.” Frank interrupts Gerard, who had been talking about... gender roles? Frank decides he doesn’t care. “I’m gonna kiss you now, okay?”

He doesn’t wait for a response and captures Gerard’s mouth with his own, swallowing Gerard’s noise of surprise and biting down a smile when he feels Gerard’s arms wrap around his waist, pulling him closer.

When they break apart, Gerard blinks up at Frank. “Does this mean you’re not gonna kick me in the balls every time we kiss?”

Frank grins and rests his forehead against Gerard’s. “You’re an idiot.” He draws back a little and kisses the tip of Gerard’s nose. “I don’t know why I like you.”

“But you do,” Gerard says. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Frank says with a soft smile as he lays his head on Gerard’s chest and listens to his heartbeat. Frank looks up and sees Gerard smiling almost shyly. “Yeah. I really, really do.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank u thank u thank u for reading!! go drink water n dont be an edgelord. stay safe, stay sane, and if you press the kudos button i'll give u a hug. if u comment, ill give u a hug AND a cookie


End file.
